Fire District Picks Site For Training

Fire district officials will look to a new site to build a new fire and police training facility due to “significant issues” in the area near the city’s wastewater lagoon.

According to City Administrator Russell Rost, a training tower could possibly be built behind the Union Fire Protection District House No. 1, located on Springfield Avenue.

“They will try and build behind their property,” he said. “They thought it was more feasible.”

Fire Chief Russ Hamilton approached the city last month to propose a joint training facility that would serve fire and Union police. The proposed site was north of the wastewater treatment site off of Highway 47 south of Highway 50.

However, after closer examination, plans were scrapped, according to Rost.

“There are significant issues at the site,” he said. “There is a large natural gas pipeline that actually cuts across at an angle.”

Rost explained that the buried natural gas pipeline would prevent any building at the site. The site is also near the city’s shooting range.

He added that there are other issues at the treatment plant site, including a sewer main that is located there.

“Even the water supply is not adequate,” Rost said.

Hamilton noted that the two entities worked together to determine if the city property was feasible.

“There were quite a few utilities that run through the property,” Hamilton told The Missourian. “Some we were aware of and some we were not. The city and fire district got together and decided it would be an awful lot of work.”

Hamilton added that the district owns about 5 acres where the training facility may be built.

He said that to train for live fire now, the district must find a vacant building and get permission from the owner. There also are stringent insurance requirements.

“This will be on our property in a facility designed for this type of training,” he said. “It should work out well for us — we could recreate live fire training scenerios and we won’t be disturbing anyone else.”